Improvement



new swag. amenait.-

VALENDo MCKAnN-NEY, 'orPORTLAND,v MALNE.

Letters Patent No. 102,694, dated May 3, 1870.

IMPRovEMENT IN SHonLr-'As'rnn'nns- The Schedule referred to in these Lettera Rateut and making part of the same.

To all whom A may concern:

Be it known that I, ALENDO MGKENNEY, of Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maille, have invented an Improvement in Boots and Shoes; and I do hereby decla-re that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description of my invention snticient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

The invention relates particularly to the construe tion and-arrangement of devices employed for fastening and keeping in neatposition the. upper and leg portion of ladiesboots.

Theinveution consists, primarily, in a. boot having a long spring inserted in the lapping edge of the upper and leg, and in the employment of fastenings, each consisting of a'n eye attached to the upper on one side of the opening, and a hook, which' is attached to the other side, preferably to the flap or lapping edge, by a .spring or elastic, which yields in accordance with the part of thc'foot, leg, or ankle, againstwhic-h the fastening comes. l

rlihe drawings represent a. boot having the spring and fastenings applied in accordance with my invention. v

A shows a side elevation of the boot.

B, a section of -the elastic fastening. G, an edge view of the hook and eye.

a denotes a boot, which, so. far as the construction, form, and union of the upper and sole are concerned, is not unlike many ordinary boots. l

b c denote the open edges of the vamp, which are opened to draw the boot onto the foot, and are closed andv fastened together when the boot is on the foot, the edge b overlapping the edge o.

The edge l: has a narrow pocket formed-in it, between the upper` and lining, and running the whole length of the edge, and within this pocket I insert a long spring or springlwire, d.

'lhis spring is preferably made with a coil, e, just above or opposite to theankle, as seen at A.

Then the boot is drawn on and the edges b c are fastened together Aatthe top or around the leg, the strain thereby produced upon the spring, in the direction of its length, causes the whole length of spring and the. edge, to which the spring is applied, to hug vlclosely to the surface of the foot, the coil e enabling the spring to readily' yield to the" motions of the'foot at the ankle joint.

sirable, the spring holding the lapped edge tightly and smoothly to the surface ofthe foot. l

Thespring wire may be made without the coil e, but the. coil adds to its utility. v

In connection with the spring I employ, as fastenings, the devices shown at f g h, each ot' which consists of a metal eye, t, .having at eachend' a shank, 7c,

by which it is fastened to the edge c, and a hook, 1, applied to one end of al1-elastic, m, whose other end is secured to the overlapping edge b.

' AThe hook is preferably made with a plate, n, through two slots, o, in which the elastic is run, as seen at A and B.

rhen the edges b c are fastened together by locking the hook l into the eye t", or to enable them to be so fastened together, the elastic yields, as maybe required,- and, while they keep the upper tightly around the leg andl against the foot, theinexibility enables the edges to yield to the motions of the foot and ankle,

and the part of the leg inclosed in the boot.

Boots thus made and fastened are not only more easy to the foot than bootslaced or fastened in the ordinary manner, but they present a very neat appearance at the edges l; c, and it takes butau linstant to connect or release the fastenings.

The coil at the center of the spring lwirel prevents the spring from breaking, asv it inclines to do under the movements ot' the ankle, it' made wit-hout the coil.

I claim- A boot, having a spring or spring wire, d, inserted in its lapping edge b, substantially as and for the purpose yset fort-h.

Also, vthe spring d, formedwith the coil e, substanti-ally as shown and described.

' ALENDO MCKENNEY.

Witnesses:

AFRANCIS GoULD,

S. B. Klnnnn. 

